We finally tested our kitchen sink cooking and it worked great. The recipe was the McCormick beef stew seasoning mix, meat and veggies (doubled). The method was to prep meat and veggies and put in fridge overnight. Set crock on counter for quick access and set out whole potatoes (cut at last minute to avoid discoloration), knife, cutting board and seasoning packet.

In the morning- Cut the potatoes, lay the silicone dish drying mat in the bottom of the sink, set the crock on it, dump meat, potatoes and veggies in it, mix the spices with water and pour that in then put the lid on. I laid a silicone hot pad between the cord and the edge of the pot to protect the cord from the heat. Plug into the kitchen outlet and turn on the inverter. Dinner cooks while you drive. Even though the crock was over filled, we had no spillage.

One negative is that you smell that stew cooking all day while you drive. While it smelled heavenly, it was killer on the hunger pains. The McCormick seasoning was very good and we added a loaf of crusty bread to round out the meal. Leftovers went into the freezer for a quick meal another day.

Clean up isn't bad. It is a glazed ceramic pot so it pretty much wipes out if you don't let it sit too long. Due to the food starting high and cooking down you get a crust at the high water mark but it scrapes off fairly easily. I carry a large silicone scraper for pre-cleaning plates and pots and such plus a little two by two inch hard plastic scraper from pampered chef that I use to scrape crusted on stuff like the crock pot, cast iron, etc. As I typed this I realized that if I used that silicone scraper to scrape down the top edges of the crock periodically as it cooked down, there wouldn't be a baked on crust.

Mike, the crock pot method would work well for your long drive days on your mega-trip. My crock is an old, round Rival that fits well in the sink and lives under the bed. If you go this route, you might want to consider "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufman. I have the e-book (and the paperback in storage). There are some very good slow cooker recipes in there but some do require more spices than we have on board. Of course a really good foodie would probably adapt them anyhow.

I also use the crock pot frequently in the PC. I have the old round Rival crock pot as well and have tried many of the McCormicks mixes. Since we watch salt content I just use half of the mix and it works out great.

Oh, I'm hungry now!Question on the crockpot... Is the Rival pot you mention a slow cooker found at Walmart? White, maybe holds about 4 quarts? I have seen that in the crockpot aisle at Walmart amongst all the big crockpots and I like its reasonable size but, having never used a crockpot before, I wasn't sure if it was a real one. All right... off to raid the frig now... happy cooking!

I believe ours is a four quart crock. I overloaded it with eight cups of veggies and between two and a half to three pounds of meat. I never thought of those liners. We'll have to get some for even easier clean up when needed. For those thinking of buying a crock pot, make sure it has a removable crock so you can clean it. The base cannot be immersed in water. Also when using it at home, I often loaded it the night before and put it in the fridge. Then I could just drop the crock into the metal base, turn it on and head for work. My big crock does not fit in the PC fridge so we put the prepped food in containers in the fridge overnight.

Mike, tell Joni we nosh on carrots while driving. I won't lie and tell you it takes your mind off the smell of the stew but it does give your stomach something to keep it occupied until it gets the good stuff. You'll be amazed at how fast you can get set up at camp and get in line with your bowl after smelling that food all day. It's a great motivator.

We use the small crockpot, as well. Walmart had them on sale the Day After Thanksgiving last year for about $5 each. We bought 2--one for the house and one for the PC. They work out well for two people and it is small enough to store easily in the PC.